


Moonlight

by Verelia



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/F, FE Rarepair Week, Female My Unit | Reflet | Robin, f!robin / panne, my robin's name is Fyra, prompt 1: Rain / Snow / Sunshine, they love each other a lot, this is basically fluff, with some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 12:05:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15485379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verelia/pseuds/Verelia
Summary: Written for Fire Emblem Rarepair Week 2018 --  Rain / Snow / Sunshine.After Emmeryn's death, the return to Ylisstol is bittersweet.  No one is a stranger to loss after such a brutal war; Panne is certainly no exception.  However, as she contemplates the many losses she's faced, her beloved is there to remind her that solitude is something she'll never know again.





	Moonlight

The Shepherds’ return to Ylisstol was marked with several days’ worth of celebration.  Townspeople revelled in the streets, singing the praises of the new exalt and his seemingly infallible tactician.  Despite the new exalt’s efforts to the contrary, the resurgence of Ylissean’s animosity toward Plegia saw many people celebrating King Gangrel’s death above all else.

 

Yet over every feast and festivity loomed the shadow of death.  Their victory was bought with scores of Ylissean lives, the former exalt foremost among them.  The price of peace was never small, and Ylisse had paid dearly for it with Emmeryn’s death.

 

Tonight, the sky itself seemed to weep for her, droplets pelting the windows of Ylisstol’s castle like stones hurled at a hated ruler.  

 

Usually, Fyra enjoyed the sound of rain, a calming drone to lull her to sleep.  But tonight she found no solace in the noise. 

 

She was alone, in an unfamiliar room--luxurious chambers for Ylisse’s honored tactician--and the huge, cushy bed felt utterly empty, even as she splayed her limbs out upon it.  Above all else, it was cold. 

 

Knowing she stood no chance of falling asleep this way, she rolled out of bed and donned her familiar coat, along with well-worn boots whose muddy soles fit poorly against the ornate rug beneath her.  She left the room, ignoring the guards posted on each side of her door, and began her trek through the long hallways of the castle, all the while humming a simple tune. Olivia had taught it to her once, during a march.  That day, they’d traded songs to pass the time, but now, Fyra had a different purpose in mind.

 

They had only been back in Ylisstol for a few days, and in that time, Fyra had had little time to herself.  As the tactician who led Ylisse’s army to victory over Plegia, her presence had been consistently  _ demanded _ in no less than three places at once, at any given time… or so it felt like, at least.  She and Chrom were simply whisked from place to place as nobles and knights and all manner of officials saw fit.  Neither of them liked it, but neither of them had much choice in the matter.

 

Appearing in front of people wasn’t the issue; she’d spent months leading an army, after all.  No, the worst thing about her overfull schedule was that she’d hardly seen Panne at all, and had absolutely no idea where her rooms were.

 

Thankfully, Chrom confirmed that she was, in fact, in the castle, but that left Fyra with little to go on.  

 

So here she was, wandering the halls, well past midnight, and humming in the hopes that Panne might find her before she had to resort to asking around.  It wouldn’t have been an issue in the army--she wouldn’t have hesitated to approach anyone standing watch at camp--but the palace guards weren’t quite used to her presence yet.  So far, reactions had ranged from mystified to quaking in their boots, so she’d resolved to leave them be until her own novelty wore off. 

 

As Fyra wandered the floor below her room, the sound of a door behind her cut her humming short.  She halted and began to turn slowly, so as not to frighten whoever else was up at this hour--

 

“Fyra.”

 

It was just the voice she’d been longing to hear.

 

She whirled around, all pretense of caution abandoned, and practically jumped into Panne’s embrace, burying her head into the soft fur at the crook of her neck.  

 

“Panne,” she sighed, the sound muffled a bit, as she wrapped her arms around Panne even more tightly than before.  Despite the guards at each end of the hall, they remained like that for a moment, neither willing to let the other go just yet.  

 

Once they finally broke apart, Fyra noticed damp trails down Panne’s face, despite the smile she currently wore.  

 

“Hey,” she cooed, trying to hide the worry in her voice as she reached up and wiped Panne’s cheeks with the sleeve of her coat.  “Are you alright?”

 

Panne’s answer came in the form of a sigh, and an arm wrapped around Fyra’s shoulders, guiding her into the room.  

 

She’d developed a quick mind for strategy, but it seemed to run amok of its own accord at all manner of things, even off the battlefield.  Consumed with worry, her mind presented her all sorts of troubling reasons as to why Panne could be upset. She wondered if the guards might have treated her with suspicion, or if one of the courtiers or nobles had made rude remarks about her or the taguel, but those were the sorts of things Panne would have brushed off.  It wasn’t often that she cried. 

 

Lost in thought, Fyra didn’t notice much about the room until she was led to a couch facing a pair of glass doors.  Outside was a sizable balcony, though at the moment it was covered in water as the storm continued its onslaught. 

 

“You can just see her beyond the stormclouds,” Panne began, settling down on the couch beside Fyra.  “The light is faint, but…”

 

Fyra squinted past the rivulets of water pouring down the glass.  Sure enough, there was the moon, its brilliance obscured, but not totally hidden.  She hummed an affirmation, taking one of Panne’s hands into both of hers, stroking gently over the skin with her thumb.  

 

A peaceful silence passed between them. Fyra knew that Panne would speak, if she chose, when she was ready.  In the meantime, her fears had been quelled; she knew now why Panne had been crying. 

 

To the taguel, the moon was a final resting place, where the souls of the dead would gather and know eternal peace.  During the campaign against Plegia, Fyra had often found Panne wandering in the moonlight, or crouching at the edge of a pond and looking upon the moon’s reflection.  Just as now, she had joined her often; Fyra was human, as far as she knew, but that didn’t stop her from keeping Panne company, and reminding her--with a soft hand on her shoulder, an arm around her waist, or a kiss on the cheek--that for all those she’d lost, she was not alone.  

 

“Emmeryn was no taguel.  Yet… part of me thinks she may be there too, with the warren…”  Her voice was steady, but hardly louder than a whisper. “I think they would have liked her very much.”

 

Fyra gave her hand a gentle squeeze and slid closer until their shoulders brushed against each other.  

 

“They will love you, as I do, one day.”  Panne leaned into her with a shaky sigh, resting her head against Fyra’s shoulder.  

 

“And I’ll love them,” Fyra answered, pausing to press a kiss into Panne’s hair.  “One day,” she whispered, resting her head on Panne’s in turn, “but not yet.”

 

“Mm.  Not yet.”  

 

Panne’s voice was nearly drowned out by the rain, as the tempest outside only seemed to grow.  

 

“I have seen so little of you,” Panne murmured, wrapping her arms around Fyra’s waist.  “Will it always be like this?” And, after a moment, with a hint of bitterness in her tone: “Can you not be seen with me in the day?”

 

Fyra felt those words like a lance piercing her chest.  Her arms seemed to envelop Panne of their own accord, pressing their bodies together as though the sheer force of it could chase such thoughts from Panne’s mind.  

 

“That’s not it, not at all,” she breathed into Panne’s soft hair.  “Ylisse… is recovering, and they need Chrom and me--they need to see us, and know that we’re working… to rebuild, I guess.”  She spared a hand to run through Panne’s locks, gently undoing both of her braids and stroking the soft fur of her ears. “These first few days are the worst, I think--Chrom isn’t happy with it, either,” she continued in a whisper.  “But… you know what? I won the war for them.  _ We _ won.  So even if I can’t get away from all these meetings… maybe you could come with me.  If you want, that is. Olivia’s with Chrom, so--”

 

“You think they will welcome me?”  Panne asked, her tone a mix of badly feigned amusement and poorly masked spite.  “These noble man-spawn who know nothing of war, or strife? The people who sat idly by as we  _ bled  _ for their comfort?”

 

“You think I’ll give them a choice?” Fyra said with a grin.  “If they turn you away, then they’re turning away their best tactician.”

 

“Truly?  You would leave all of this?” she asked, gesturing around her at the finely furnished room, and the castle beyond it.  

 

“I will be here with you, or not at all.”  Fyra placed a gentle hand under one of Panne’s long ears and brought it close, brushing it lightly against her lips.  “I’m not leaving you alone. Now, or ever. I don’t care if we have to sleep under the stars, even if it’s in the rain, or the snow--”

 

She might have continued with all manner of dour conditions, but she was saved the trouble as Panne’s lips crashed against her own, her hands gripping Fyra’s coat and pulling the two of them together.  

 

When Panne finally pulled away, she was smiling, a twinkle in her eye with her face a hair’s breadth from Fyra’s.  “We promised to stand by each other always. Though it pales in comparison to our usual woes,” she said with a chuckle, “I will not leave you to face these meetings alone.”

 

“The taguel live in Ylisse now.  It’s only fair that you should have a say in how it’s rebuilt.  And trust me,” Fyra smiled at Panne’s determination, “it’ll be pretty boring, but nothing would make me happier than to have you with me.”  She paused, never gazing away from Panne’s crimson eyes, her expression turning solemn. “And… just so you know, your presence will  _ never _ bring me shame.  I  _ want _ people of Ylisse to see you by my side--I want all of them to know Panne, the brave taguel, who risked her life for a country, for a people, that weren’t even hers… not at first, anyway.”  Fyra cupped Panne’s cheeks in her hands, thumbs stroking gently over the markings on her cheekbones. “I want them to know that I love you, and that you belong here as much as I do. You’re as Ylissean as me, if that’s what you want.”

 

Throughout all this, Panne’s face had gone from a look of surprise to one of unabashed adoration.  

 

“I suppose I cannot help the doubts that plague me--your words should not surprise me as they do.  But they are welcome, and cherished, all the same.” She punctuated her words with a peck on Fyra’s cheek.  “If you think the people of Ylisse can learn to see me in such a way… well, I cannot help but believe you, my love.”

 

Fyra grinned at the pet name--nothing new, but she never grew tired of hearing Panne say it.  “The Shepherds grew to love you, so why not the rest of Ylisse? It’s just a matter of time.” Her last words trailed off into a yawn, and her skin grew cold at the sudden loss of Panne’s touch as the other woman stood up.  

 

“When, exactly, is your next… engagement?” Panne asked, hands on her hips and a knowing smile on her face.  This would be far from the first time that Fyra forced herself to remain awake for far longer than was reasonable.  

 

“Oh, uh,” Fyra said with a sheepish laugh, “I’m supposed to get up at dawn.”  Panne rolled her eyes, though she could not hide her smile, and offered her hand to Fyra, which she took gratefully.  

 

“Right,” sighed Panne, pulling Fyra up to stand before her.  “Then we should be asleep.” She started leading Fyra toward her bed, but Fyra tugged her in the opposite direction.

 

Panne turned, one eyebrow raised.

 

“Mine might be better.  It’s bigger, and probably softer,” Fyra pointed out with a pleading look that she knew she didn’t need.  

 

Panne shook her head, the corners of her mouth turned up in the slightest smile, and brought Fyra’s hand to her lips--with a start, Fyra realized Panne would not have missed the way her heartbeat quickened at the contact.  The taguel grinned knowingly at the strangled noise Fyra made, as well as her reddening cheeks. “Lead the way, then.” 

 

Fyra let go of her hand for just a moment, in order to embrace Panne once again, careful not to catch her long ears in the admittedly tight hug.  Before Panne could react, Fyra stepped away, taking her hand once again and leading her toward the door. 

 

This time, Fyra gave a pleasant nod to the guards outside, as though she were merely exchanging pleasantries--as though she was not holding the hand of a beautiful woman and leading her into her chambers at an ungodly hour of the night.  She didn’t even try to hold back the juvenile giggle as they passed, closing the door behind them before the guards could truly react.

  
Fyra made a beeline for her--no,  _ their _ \--bed, and despite the exhaustion that Fyra felt, Panne was the first to fall asleep, Fyra lying awake in her arms.  The restlessness that plagued her earlier was long gone, though. Now, with her love snoring safely beside her, she let the din of the waning storm lull her to sleep.  Her last thoughts were of how beautiful Panne would look tomorrow by her side, radiant in the sunlight, standing hand in hand, for all of Ylisse to see.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Panne is definitely my favorite character, and her backstory really intrigued me--she's been alone for so long, without warmth, friendship, or comfort, that I really jumped at the chance for Robin to give her the love she'd been missing. This is my first time doing any sort of weekly event like this, but I really enjoyed it, and hope I'm able to keep up with each day this week. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing! <3


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